


Of Coffee, Corgis, and Cats

by starspangledbisexual



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Baristas, Corgi BB-8 (Star Wars), Dog BB-8 (Star Wars), F/M, First Meetings, Flirting, Fluff, Gen, Hux is an angry voice on a phone, M/M, Matchmaker BB-8 (Star Wars), Meet-Cute, Pets, no pets are harmed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 16:27:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29138532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starspangledbisexual/pseuds/starspangledbisexual
Summary: Rey would do anything for Finn- and by extension, Finn's boyfriend Poe and his adorable corgi, BeeBee. That includes covering Finn's shift when BeeBee goes missing.Throw a handsome customer, some convenient coincidences, and a very surly cat into the mix, and Rey's Tuesday afternoon turns out to be a lot more interesting than she thought it would be.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Finn, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 3
Kudos: 51





	Of Coffee, Corgis, and Cats

**Author's Note:**

> This has been sitting in my Goggle Drive for about a year since I wrote it as part of a writing challenge with some friends, and I'm finally posting it!
> 
> Hope you enjoy some fluffy goodness!

“Rey, I’m begging you, _please._ I can take your Thursday night closing, just cover me today.”

“I just don’t understand why Poe needs your help with this. Beebee’s legs are like, what, four inches long? She’s a corgi, Finn, and a tiny one at that—she can’t have gone far.”

“Maybe not, but that’s the thing-- she’s _tiny,_ Rey, who knows what kind of trouble she could be in? Poe’s been freaking out for the last fifteen minutes over all the different things that could have happened to her. You know how he gets.”

Rey sighs. She _does_ know. “You drop a screwdriver while putting in a ceiling fan _one time_ -”

“It was _two inches away_ from her head, Rey!” she hears Poe shout in the background, and glares at her phone, hoping Finn can somehow feel her irritation at being put on speaker.

After an awkward pause, Finn sighs again. “Look. He needs me, Rey. I can’t stand to see him like this. He’s giving me the sad eyes, you know the ones...”

Rey definitely knows the ones. Finn had only waxed poetic about ‘the mega-hot guy at the gym’ for weeks at game night last year, exhaustively cataloging his every expression for Rey, Rose, and Jannah while tipsy on boxed wine. Remembering the dreamy look in Finn’s eyes on those nights, Rey’s mind drifts to another face; a fuzzy orange one with a criminally adorable permanent wink.

She sighs. It’s not like she had any plans this afternoon anyway. “Alright, I’ll do it for BeeBee.”

“Thank you so so much, Rey. I owe you one,” Finn says, relieved.

“Yes, yes--now go, your prince needs you,” Rey chuckles, hearing a faint “Thanks, Rey!” in the background from Poe as Finn says a hurried goodbye.

***

Tuesday afternoons at Maz’s are pretty quiet; most of the university students are still in class, and the after-work rush doesn’t start until near the end of the shift. It’s pouring rain on this particular Tuesday, and the only customers when Rey clocks in are two women chatting quietly while their baby sleeps in his stroller and a very large, very hairy gentleman who appears to be immersed in his laptop. This peace stretches out for an hour or so, lulling Rey into a kind of trance as she wipes down the counter… which is why she almost jumps out of her skin when the door _thunks_ open much harder than usual, rattling the chime as it slams shut. 

Rey’s head shoots up at the sound and she catches sight of an absolutely _massive_ soaking wet man in an expensive-looking greatcoat. Seemingly oblivious to the world around him as he stomps up to the counter, he practically shouts into his Bluetooth:

“How many kriffing times do I have to say it, I don’t know where else she could be…. _Yes,_ I checked the top shelf of your closet… because you told me to do that last time this happened and I didn’t want to have this phone call _again_ …! No, I didn’t touch anything, and she wasn’t there anyway…”

The customer stops in front of the till, and Rey gets a better look at him as he continues his argument. The only adjective she can think of to describe his face is… _pointy,_ which is deeply frustrating, considering something about him is making it very difficult for her to remember how to speak when his eyes finally meet hers.

“Listen… I’ll call you back, Hux… I’m sure someone will find her,” he says, not breaking eye contact with Rey. Whoever he’s hanging up on is clearly upset, as she can hear muffled expletives just before he ends the call and an awkward silence descends.

“Sorry about that,” he murmurs in a deep, surprisingly gentle voice after what feels like eternity. “My roommate’s cat got out…” he trails off, looking almost embarrassed, and _dammit,_ Rey needs to take this man’s order, not gape at him like a lovestruck teenager.

Instead, she hears herself say “My best friend’s dog got out. That’s why I’m covering his shift, actually.” _Smooth, Rey. Real smooth._

Something about this statement brings a smile to his face, and Rey struggles to remember how to breathe. “Lucky me, then,” he says, and _oh, maker, is this even real?_ Rey thinks before the man freezes and his face goes scarlet, his mind catching up to his mouth.

There’s another awkward silence, and Rey tries to stifle a giggle, she really does, but the sound manages to jolt the man out of his panic and he laughs too, and now Rey _knows_ she’s blushing, too.

After what feels like a lifetime, but is only fifteen seconds, Rey finally remembers how to take someone’s coffee order, and Ben (she asks automatically-- so she can put it on the cup, of course-- even though there’s no one else waiting for drinks) remembers how to order (a mocha latte with three sugars). The rest of the transaction is uneventful, but Ben flashes Rey another smile as he leaves, and _kriff,_ if this is how she reacts to just flirting, Rey _needs_ to get out more.

***

A text to Finn at the end of her shift confirms that he and Poe are still searching for BeeBee, and Rey rendezvouses with them at a nearby intersection. Poe is frantic, practically dragging her and Finn down the street as soon as she arrives so they don’t “lose anymore time--we stopped long enough to wait for you, Rey-- who _knows_ how far she could have gotten in that time?”

According to Finn, even though they haven’t found BeeBee yet, a few people they’d shown her picture to had seen her and gave their search some direction. It’s better than running blind, Rey supposes, but after over an hour of trudging through the rain without any signs of the little dog, she begins to feel the same discouragement she sees on her friends’ faces.

That is until she catches a flash or orange fur out of the corner of her eye, just inside the entrance of an alleyway. It’s gone as suddenly as it appeared, but Rey sprints after it, shouting “I think I see her!” back to Poe and Finn, who are immediately on her heels.

The alley is very narrow, sandwiched tightly between two buildings and leaving barely enough room for Rey to slink through, but she can see orange fur not far off and hears a familiar whimper, a lot like the sound BeeBee makes when she begs for table scraps, followed by a… hiss?

Rey slows down and Poe nearly crashes into her, slowing from his jog just in time as Finn joins them. All of them stay silent as they creep forward, following the sounds until they reach the alley’s end. There, they find BeeBee, wet and whimpering and cornered by a large ginger tabby cat, who is hissing threateningly at her.

“BeeBee!” Poe shouts, breaking the cat’s attention and earning a happy bark from his buddy, who runs into his open, soaking arms. 

Rey redirects her attention to the cat, who is looking for an alternate escape from the now overcrowded alleyway. As cautiously as she can, she reaches for the cat’s collar, nearly earning herself a nip before she can grab it by the scruff of the neck and read her tags.

“Her name’s Millicent, and it looks like there’s a number we can call.”

Finn scowls. “What kind of cat name is that?”

“The kind you give to a creature that menaces poor, innocent pooches apparently,” Poe quips, somehow managing to sound both indignant and ridiculous as he scritches BeeBee behind her ear, causing her right leg to kick happily. With his other hand, he reaches for his phone. “Whoever her owner is, we’re gonna have some _words._ ”

Rey gives Poe the number, putting Millicent back down to continue her fruitless search for an escape as they wait through the rings.

“Hello there, this is Poe Dameron, and we’ve found your cat… sir, calm down… yes, she appears to be completely fine, not a scratch on her, though she was scaring the kriff out of my dog when we found her…” Poe blanches, taken aback by whatever Millicent’s owner has to say about that, before his face solidifies into an expression of outrage. “ _Excuse me,_ don’t use that kind of language about my BeeBee…my one-eyed, twenty-pound corgi wouldn’t hurt a fly…! Now listen here, Mr…. Hugs, was it?” (Finn and Rey can hear the shouting on the other end of the line at that) “The sooner you can get down here to pick up your _precious puss_ the better….”

Poe gives Mr. Hugs (Rey’s not forgetting that name anytime soon, regardless of Millicent’s owner’s opinions) the closest intersection as Rey stifles a giggle before he finally hangs up, looking exhausted. “Kriffing _asshole,_ ” he muses, absently petting BeeBee as Finn tries to control his laughter.

“Is he actually coming down here?” Rey asks, slightly worried. She’s not sure how that meeting would shake out, but she doesn’t like the chances of anyone who speaks ill of BeeBee in Poe’s hearing, or hers for that matter.

“He just said _do not move. She will be fetched posthaste,_ ” Poe snipes in an exaggerated posh accent, turning his nose up at Finn and Rey for added effect.

“Damn, what a dick,” Finn said. “Good on you for telling him what’s what, babe,” he leans over, kissing Poe on the cheek. 

This manages to cheer him up, and the three pass the next fifteen minutes in relative calm, falling into their usual banter. Rey only has to grab Millicent to prevent her escape twice before she hears the whirr of a… motorcycle, it has to be-- at the mouth of the alley.

The trio share a confused look before Rey silently volunteers to go meet Mr. Hugs, bracing herself to be chewed out as she carries a very indignant, wriggly Millicent out to the street.

The motorcycle’s driver, clad all in black, is parking at the curb as Rey strides out onto the sidewalk, face schooled into her ‘customer service’ expression of pleasant banality. Then the rider removes their helmet to reveal…

“Ben?” Rey hears herself gasp, nearly dropping Millicent in her shock.

Ben’s eyes widen as his adorably-mussed helmet hair falls in his face, sticking to his forehead in the rain. “...Oh. Hey,” he says, shuffling his feet like a school boy in his Docs. “You...you found Millicent.”

Rey can’t help it. This whole ordeal is completely absurd, and she starts to giggle, not even trying to stifle it. When she finally recovers, she looks up at Ben, who is now very drenched and looking more than a little put out.

“I’m sorry,” she manages, adjusting her grip on Millicent. “It’s just… ridiculous, meeting like this.”

“A bit yeah,” he answers, eyes turning toward the ground.

There’s a long pause before Rey decides to move things along, her teeth on the verge of chattering. “So...you’re Millicent’s owner, then?” Maker, that’s unfortunate. He was so cute and charming back at Maz’s, but if he was a dick to Poe on the phone, Rey knows she can’t even _consider_ it…

“Oh, maker no!” Ben says, and it’s his turn to hold back laughter. “Hux is working late and I knew he’d never let me forget it if I didn’t come get her. Millicent _hates_ me. I don’t care what Hux says, leaving ‘presents’ in my room is _not_ an acceptable sign of affection.”

And that’s when Rey remembers their earlier conversation and it all clicks. “Oh! The roommate! Mr. Hugs is your roommate!” Rey exclaims before she can stop herself.

“Mr…. Hugs?” and Ben laughs, and she’s _very_ cold and probably coming down with something, but if that isn’t the most beautiful sound Rey has ever heard….

“That’s what… my friend called him. On the phone,” she says, shuffling her feet as she feels her cheeks go red. “He… wasn’t quite as charming as you.”

Oh kriff. _Kriff._ Did she say that out loud?

Rey can’t face him. She just can’t. But Millicent is starting to get yowl and her claws are digging into Rey’s forearm and it’s _so cold_ ….

She finally looks up into Ben’s face, only to see him blushing as he grins shyly.

“I’ll have to tell him that next time he chews me out for how I organize the pantry,” he quips, his voice surprisingly soft. Rey smiles at that, and she can’t help but hope she sees his grin broaden.

Rey takes a moment to compose herself, knowing this has to end sooner or later, before holding out Millicent. “Well… here she is,” she says awkwardly, and they both stare at the very wet, increasingly angry cat for several long moments before Ben finally takes her, holding her at arm’s length as he secures her in the cat carrier bag on the back of his bike.

“That’s clever,” Rey compliments him, knowing she must sound inane.

“Yeah,” Ben stares at the ground again. “Hux thinks I took the car, but I actually like the rain.” Rey swears she can see him blushing again.

“Me too!” She says, not trying to hide her enthusiasm. “I grew up in the desert, and it’s just so…”

“Cleansing,” Ben finishes for her, holding her gaze, not mounting his bike to leave like he’s supposed to.

“Yeah,” Rey hears herself say, her eyes never leaving his.

They stay like that until Millicent lets out a particularly insistent yowl from her carrier, jarring them from their reverie. “I… I better go,” he says, face redder than ever, “but I never actually got your name.”

“It’s Rey,” she says, almost before he’s finished asking.

Ben smiles at that. “Well, Rey, would you… maybe want to grab dinner sometime?” 

“Yes!” Rey practically shouts, restraining herself at the last moment. “I… I’d really like that.”

“She’s free Thursday,” she hears Finn call from behind her, and they both turn to see him and Poe standing just outside the alley, a soaked but happy BeeBee held against Poe’s chest. Finn gives Rey a look that simply says _you’re welcome._

She turns back to Ben, who is chuckling to himself. “I am free then,” she confirms. “Does six work for you?”

They exchange numbers, and Ben mounts his bike with a wink before donning his helmet and taking off, Millicent’s yowls finally drowned out by the purr of the engine. Rey stands there for a moment, almost dazed.

“Huh. Maybe that cat was good for something after all,” Finn muses.

“Finn!” Rey hears Poe exclaim. “She scared our _baby._ ”

“I know, I know--but she also got Rey a date.”

“Touché.”


End file.
